PT Perikanan Indonesia exported 205 tons of skipjack tuna or the equivalent of eight containers to Japan by sea.
"The export of skipjack tuna is a good start to the year to raise revenue," said PT Perikanan Indonesia's main director, Sigit Muhartono, reported by Antara, Wednesday, January 4, 2022.
Sigit said that skipjack tuna shipments were carried out in two sessions. In the first session, the company exported 52 tons and in the second session, 153 tons.
"A total of 205 tons were exported to Hakata City, Japan in early January. And God willing, it will continue in the following months with a minimum of 300 tons per month," he said.
The raw material for skipjack tuna is obtained from fishing partners of PT Perikanan Indonesia which are spread across several company branch offices such as in Muara Baru Jakarta, Bacan, Ambon and Bitung.
Sigit said that the total valuation of skipjack tuna exports in early 2023 reached USD 330,050 or the equivalent of IDR 5.1 billion. Going forward, PT Perikanan Indonesia is targeting a monthly export of 300 tons of skipjack tuna.
Sigit said that the need for skipjack tuna in Japan is very large. The demand for a single buyer in Japan reaches 30,000 tons of skipjack tuna per year. PT Perikanan Indonesia will try to supply the needs of the market.
"Companies from Japan import skipjack tuna from Indonesia to be processed into a basic ingredient for Japanese food, katsuobushi. Katsuobushi is a preserved food made from thinly shaved skipjack tuna, like wood shavings," he explained.
Japanese people always include katsuobushi in their daily meals, either for flavoring or as a side dish for rice.
That way, the need for skipjack tuna raw materials will continue to exist. Cakalang fish or what is called Skipjack Tuna is a pelagic fish that lives on the surface of sea water. Skipjack tuna move in groups and migrate.
In 2023, PT Perikanan Indonesia will aggressively export. PT Perikanan Indonesia has pocketed export requests every month for loin tuna, skipjack, octopus and flying fish commodities.
